One day, a long, long time ago, a young lad left home to go hear a great prophet who had appeared on the scene. He was going to teach the people that day on a Judean mountainside and since they had never before seen or heard anybody like Him, people everywhere were talking about Him. It is reasonable to assume that the boy’s mom had to stay home to attend to the rest of her family and chores, but persuaded her young son to go hear what the prophet had to say. She may have asked him to carefully try to remember His words so that he could share them with her when he returned. She probably also fixed him his the lunch to sustain him that day. When Jesus later in the day asked His disciples if they had any food to feed the multitude, one of them replied: “There is a lad here, which has five barley loaves, and two small fishes: but what are they among so many?” (John 6:9) Neither the boy nor his mom could have ever imagined that this great Teacher would use that small meal to somehow feed a multitude. In fact, as the disciple implied, how could something so small do so much for so many?
Because we are human, we too often find it hard to believe that God can do good, or even great, things with the little we have to offer. Nevertheless, we must not forget that the One who did that great miracle on the mountainside that day, is the same today. After all, He lives forever. The truth is that wondrous things such as these are done on a daily basis throughout the world. Jesus continues to take the little we can offer to accomplish great things. Dear child of God, let me remind you that you have much more than five loaves and two fishes to offer. Like the lad in this biblical account, are you willing to offer what you have to bless and benefit others? A warm handshake, a loving smile, a pat on the back, a word of encouragement, all of these are small things and fairly easy to do. Yet, they can do great things for others. In fact, someone you know may just now be yearning to receive one of these “small things.” Bless someone today!
God’s promise for today (Proverbs 22:9) “The generous will themselves be blessed, for they share their food with the poor.”
